Nation

PHILIPPINE Constitution Association (Philconsa) President Martin Romualdez on Tuesday night reaffirmed the group’s commitment to defend and protect the 1987 Constitution amid perceived threats of destabilization against the duly-constituted government. During the 56th Philconsa Anniversary attended by President Rodrigo Duterte…

THE House of Representatives yesterday approved on third and final reading the proposed 2018 national budget amounting to P3.676 trillion. Two hundred twenty-two solons voted in favor while only nine rejected House Bill 6215 or the General Appropriation Bill for…

THE controversial medical “marijuana” bill has passed scrutiny by the House committee on health. Principally authored by Isabela Rep. Rodito Albano III, the measure allows patients with debilitating conditions to use marijuana or cannabis. The bill seeks to legalize and…

THE Congress-approved measure postponing barangay election will be sent to President Rodrigo Durterte within the week for his signature, House Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas said after the House of Representatives adopted the Senate version, particularly the date of the next…

SENATE President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto yesterday warned that around 150,000 inmates in 446 Bureau of Jail Management and Penology-run jails in the country may face “a forced last quarter diet” as their food budget is expected to run out by…

AT LEAST 87 passengers of a Montenegro Lines ship were injured when the vessel carrying them accidentally hit a rock formation along the shoreline of Tabias Island in Calatrava, Romblon early morning yesterday, police said. The injured passengers were immediately…

RETIRED Superintendent Napoleon Cauyan had an altercation with fellow cockfight aficionado inside the Mariveles Cockpit Arena in Bataan a week before he and his 21-year old son were gunned down by unidentified gunmen last Sunday afternoon, police said yesterday. According…

THE Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and the Philippine National Police have demanded anew the full support of Barangay Drug Abuse Councils (BADACs) in establishing their respective Drug Reformation Centers and help clear 49.65 percent of the country’s 42,036 barangays still…

QUEZON City Rep. Alfred Vargas yesterday asked the National Housing Authority (NHA) about the possibility of creating low-cost housing units for college students, especially those from low-income families. In filing House Bill 1390 or an Act Providing for Student Financing…

PHILIPPINE National Police Deputy Chief for Operations Deputy Director General Fernando Mendez, Jr. on Sunday was named Officer-in-Charge of the 170,000-strong police force in the absence of Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa and PNP Deputy Chief for Administration Deputy…

CHIEF Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno yesterday asked the House committee on justice to dismiss the impeachment complaint against her, warning that the ouster petition was based on false and flimsy grounds and has been undermining judicial independence. In her 85-page…

THE Philippine National Police leadership headed by Director General Ronald ‘Bato’ M. dela Rosa has reiterated the need for a thorough background check and the conduct of neuro-psychiatric test and evaluation of all police applicants to ensure that only the…

SEVERAL importers and brokers at the Bureau of Customs (BoC) urged Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson to scrutinize the credibility of one of the possible witnesses in the Senate hearing investigating the tara system in the agency. One of the resource…

THE National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) should crack the whip on the country’s telecommunications companies (telcos) and order them to make a much better job of upgrading their services in the wake of the latest industry findings that mobile data speeds…

SENATOR Sonny Angara yesterday noted that milk and 3-in-1 coffee are excluded from the proposed excise tax on sweetened beverages under the version that the Senate panel reported out last week. Angara, chairman of the ways and means committee, said…